Acts 6:1-4
Some put the number of Christians at this point at over 20,000. This is large growth from the 5,000 of chapter 4. At this point, many folks are saying, "remember the good old days when there were only a 120 of us." Any time or place where people gather, there will be problems arise. It was noteworthy that in the beginning that the church was of one accord. They had all things in common and were one in Christ. Had something changed? Or, was 'one accord' only possibly with a small group?
Satan uses any means to harm the church. The Hellenist Jews were more connected to the Greek culture than the Jews, which made them suspect to the Hebrew Jews. This caused some discrimination among the believers, or at least perceived discrimination. The Hellenists felt like their widows were being neglected and not given the same daily distribution as the Hebrew widows. It began to cause dissension and a split in the church.
This word for 'daily distribution' is used 34 times in the New Testament and almost always translated ministry. This daily distribution might cause you to think of a soup line where one group was getting more than the other. In reality, this may simply have been ministry of all kinds and if there was any negligence, it was probably unintentional. Even if it comes from an undeserved gift, we humans want to make sure we get our share. Are we required to offer our ministry equally to everyone? It seems like this church of 'one mind and one heart' is now beginning to have other things enter in. The cry of neglect and 'its not fair' and 'someone is getting more than me' rose from ministry. All these folks were Christian. These things don't sound like a right response to God's abundant grace. Is it possible that instead of thankfulness and gratefulness, some were looking at what others got and wanting more for themselves?
Serving tables could mean serving food but it could also be any kind of monetary transactions. The disciples say they shouldn't be taken away from the word of God for this. So, they were to seeking out seven men to serve this purpose. This is not necessarily the office of deacon or elder but it does show the sharing of the leadership in the church. These men were to be of good reputation and full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This isn't to say the prayer and teaching is more important but that the Lord equipped the church to do all these things well. The distribution of food or resources were temporal things where the teaching of the Word was eternal.
Jon Courson notes 3 potential problems that arise out of their growth: discrimination, professionalism, and prioritization.
- Discrimination: The traditional Jews looked down on the Hellenists as being too compromising. We seem to be capable of adopting a 'holier than thou' attitude very quickly. We need to watch for this trap as our fellowships grow.
- Professionalism: Why do these people look up to the disciples and tell them to solve this problem. God likely put this problem on their mind so they could resolve it. This seems to happen in church all the time. We can all seem to spot problems in someone else that someone else should resolve. Maybe God called you to resolve that problem!
- Prioritization: A teacher should hold onto his priority. He must not be too distracted from that. Others are available to serve also. Delegate and don't lose sight of the priority.
To resolve the problem, seven men were to be chosen to serve. They were to be qualified:
- Good reputation. It wouldn't do to have someone who had accusations against them or a reputation for dishonesty.
- Full of the Holy Spirit. This was a ministry opportunity. The glory for their service went to the Lord and not to themselves. They also had to be sensitive to the Spirit in their lives.
- Full of wisdom. Look into the life of the Spirit filled and wise and you will find a man of prayer and a man of the word of God.
Acts 6:5-7
The grumbling was silenced and they were one again. The names of the seven are all Greek names. They all had a good reputation. A good reputation goes a long way in crossing over lines that would otherwise divide. In an act of unity in the church they appointed seven Hellenists to oversee the service to the widows. Not a lot is known of the seven.
- Stephen's ministry is short because he will be martyred shortly for his evangelism before the council.
- Philip became an evangelist. He was the father of 4 daughters who were prophetesses.
- Prochorus became secretary to John. He became the bishop of Nicodema after John died. He was martyred.
- Nicolas may have veered toward heresy and may be the father of the Nicolaitans spoken of in Revelation 2 & 3.
This laying on of hands is an act of identification and agreement, a joining together with their call. This unity and resolution of the problem caused the word of God to spread further. The church continued to grow; the number multiplied. It's interesting that 'multiplied' is used instead of 'added'. This church was growing fast! Even some of the Jewish priests were converting to a belief in Jesus Christ as their messiah. This may account for the extreme hatred toward Stephen. The story of conflict begins with the church growing and ends with the church growing.
Acts 6:8-15
Stephen was full of grace & power and he was doing miraculous signs and wonders. Every time I read of these things I have to wonder if we are missing something. Has the body of Christ so dismissed miracles and signs that we no longer see them? Or are we blind? Do they happen all around us and we call them coincidence and good luck? The Lord used Stephen to confirm His work among the people of the community.
The synagogue of Freedmen was a Greek speaking synagogue founded by a group of freed slaves. This synagogue rose up against Stephen. The disputes were actually formal debates. These guys couldn't debate against the wisdom and Spirit with which Stephen spoke. There is no reason to believe Stephen was better schooled or a better trained debater. He was simply operating at a different level as he was filled with the Holy Spirit. These men couldn't cope with what Stephen was teaching and conspired against him.
It seems like the enemies of the church ought to be the radical unbelievers; however, it is more often the religious folks. For some reason these Jews targeted Stephen. They were obviously feeling threatened and so they brought false testimony against him and they dragged him away. I wonder if this is something they did often or this was just a special occasion. As they looked on him to bring their false charges, they all saw his face like the face of an angel. I bet they couldn't cope with that either. What would the face of an angel look like? McArthur suggest: Pure calm, unruffled composure, reflecting the presence of God.
Stephen knew that God was for Him. There was nothing a synagogue could do unless God allowed it. There was nothing the world could do to steal his life because his life came from Jesus.
©2008, 2014, 2021 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater
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